Nonskidding blocks

ABSTRACT

Nonskidding blocks for use in making body repairs and carrying out similar operations in the body, reconditioning, and trim industries are disclosed.

United StatesPatent i191 Moran Mar. 18, 1975 NONSKIDDING BLOCKS [56] References Cited [76] Inventor: Jack L. Moran, 1013 S. Bernice, UNITED STATES PATENTS Spearman, 79081 2,527,482 10/1950 Kinzler et al. 335/285 Mar. 30, RICE A PP 346,327 Primary Examiner-Othell M. Simpson Attorney, Agent, or Firml-larold H. Flanders [52] US. Cl. 254/133 R, 335/285 [51] Int. Cl B66f 3/00 [57] ABSTRACT [58] Field of Search 335/285, 304, 303;

248/206 A; 24/73 MS, 201 B; 254/133 R, 134,95 R, 100; 72/705; 269/8; 206/DIG. 33; 29/401 R Nonskidding blocks for use in making body repairs and carrying out similar operations in the body, reconditioning, and trim industries are disclosed.

9 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures 1 NONSKIDDING BLOCKS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In general, the present invention relates to nonskidding blocks and more specifically refers to nonskidding blocks for use in making body repairs, reconditioning, metal working, and in the repair and reconditioning of trim and the like.

The body and metal repair industry has long suffered from the limitations of the equipment widely employed which must be cheapenough for the individuals body shop and at the sametime versatile enough to make possible a wide variety of repairs to varying metal configurations.

It has long been the practice to employ portable hydraulic jacks known as porta power in makig body repairs.,Wooden blocking is frequently employed with these jacks to prevent slipping and to uniformly distribute the forces as described in Auto Body Repairing and Repainting, Chapter 8, Straightening Panels with Power Tools, Toboldt, Bill, The Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc., Homewood, UL, Library of Congress 65-26091 and Auto Body and Reconditioned Car; Vol. LI; No. 1, page 4 and No.3, page 2; January and March 1972.

When employing such devices, it has in the past been necessary for two and sometimes three men to make a setup and hold-the blocks and portable jack in place. Even when several individuals are employed in the operation, it has in the past been necessary to make two or more attempts to set up because of block slippage.

The wasted time, money, man-power, and effort were apparent for all to see but prior to the present manpower saving invention, no solution had been found.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new, man-power saving tool for the body, metal working and trim industries.

It is a further object of the present invention to providea device which will serve to uniformly distribute the forces.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device which will cling to themetal where it is placed and needed.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a device which will not slip or skid when pressure is applied to align metal.

Other objects and a further understanding of the present invention may be had by referring to the following description and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

The present invention overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art and achieves its objectives by providing blocks of wood or other suitable material with magnets or suction cups to allow attachment and nonskid performance on the metal and with butt plates on the ends to increase strength, distribute force and allow for hammering adjustment of position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order to facilitate the understanding ofthe present invention, reference will now be made to the appended drawings of the preferred embodiments of the present invention. The drawings should not be construed as limiting the invention but are exemplary only.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective representation of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective representation of an alternative embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective representation of a further alternative embodiment of the present inventlon.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 1 in which a block of wood 10 has been reinforced with butt plates 14 on each end. Each butt plate 14 is attached to block 10 by an epoxy glue 12. A magnet 16 is attached to block 10 by an epoxy glue 12 (not shown) and/or additional attachment means.

The magnet, preferably covering the full width and length of block 10, of course serves to attach the block 10 to magnetic metals and to ens'urethat the block 10 clings to the metal where it is placed and does not skid when pressure is applied.

In addition to holding the block 10 in place, the magnet 16 also serves the function of increasing the tensile strength of a wooden block 10 as much as threeand-one-half times.

Butt plates 14 also serve to reinforce the strength of the block 10 and to provide a force-distributing surface and effect to allow hammering of the block 10 to make minor adjustment of its position once initially attached to the metal.

FIG. 2 shows an alternative embodiment in which a block 20 is reinforced by butt plates 24 held in place and attached by an epoxy glue 22. Magnets 26 in the form of strips placed on one or both sides of the block 20 may be so arranged as to allow for convenient stacking, as for example in the configuration shown with a centrally disposed magnetic strip 26 on one side and two magnetic strips 26 on the opposite side so disposed as to be separated a width equal to or greater than the width of the magnetic strip 26 on the opposite side.

The magnetic strips 26 in this embodiment are held in place by epoxy glue or other suitable attachment means.

Other configurations to allow for stacking of blocks either in use or storage may of course be employed within the scope of the present invention.

A further alternative embodiment of the present invention which is particularly adapted for use in the aircraft industry or in body work involving non-magnetic metals is shown in FIG. 3. A wooden block 30 is reinforced by butt plates 34 attached to each end by epoxy glue 32. An array 36 of individual suction cup 38 is attached to one or both sides of block 30 by epoxy glue or other suitable attachment means (not shown).

The suction cups 38 may of course in the alternative be individually formed and attached and need not necessarily be part of unitary array such as 36, but it is in any case desired that a multiplicity of suction cups 38 be employed as some will in many cases be out of contact on initial application due to the curvature in volved. Thus, a unitary array 36 ofsuction cups 38 such as are found on many bath mats and the like may be preferred, for example, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. Dl9l,90l.

The blocks 10, 20, 30 may of course have a size and I configuration as adapted for a particular purpose in metal or body work. However, in generaL'blocks having nominal dimensions of 2 inch thickness, widths of 2 inches, 4 inches, 6 inches, etc., and lengths of 7 to 12 inches have been found suitable and desirable for most applications.

While wooden blocks have been referred to throughout the above as the preferred blocks, other materials such as hard rubber, fiberglass, plastics, elastomers,-

compressed and laminated boards and the like may be employed. Indeed, if desired, the entire block may be magnetic metal or the like, in which case the magnet 16 and block are a unitary element.

The magnets 16, 26 may of course be conventional magnetic materials. However, it is preferred that an elastic, extruded plastic, magnetic material, termed in the art as rubber magnet s be employed. The rubber magnet is a flexible material such as rubber, synthetic rubber, flexible plastic or similar soft elastic material which has incorporated throughout its entire mass particulate or powdered permanent magnetic material. The rubber magnet material may be of the type disclosed in US. Pat. No. 2,959,832 to Max Baermann. Commercial materials such as produced by B. F. Goodrich having No. 3 polarity and 3/16 inch thickness have been found particularily effective. A further advantage of such material over conventional magnets, in addition to its magnetic properties, is its high coefficient of friction which further resists slipping.

Commercially available epoxy glues having a tensile strength on the order of 2,000 pounds per square inch are effective for bonding in the blocks of the present invention.

An 18 gauge cold rolled steel is a suitable material for construction of the butt plates of the present invention, but other materials may of course be used. The inner faces of such butt plates may be sandblasted, etched, or otherwise treated to improve bonding.

Studs and punched sections may also be employed along with other conventional fastening means to attach the various abovedescribed elements to each other, either permanently or until the epoxy is firmly Canadian white spruce has been found to be a particularly advantageous block material but, as will be recognized, other woods or materials as described herein above which have similar mechanical properties may be employed within the scope of the present invention.

The magnetic material, butt plates, and blocks may be bevelled as desired.

Silicone or similar fluids may be employed to assist in attachment of the suction cup embodiment of the present invention. It has been found that use ofa lubricant or fluid which will not evaporate will allow suction to be maintained for several days.

In operation, the present blocks are used between the A jack or other working tool between its working face of the present invention may be advantageously used in the trim industry in connection with the application of cloth, vinyl tops and the like where such blocks may replace man-power to hold the applied material in place for bonding and to hold material for bonding following the removal of air bubbles and the like by the hypodermic injection of glue into the defect.

It has also been found that the blocks may be used in the television industry to defocus the beams of a color television.

The blocks of the subject invention may also be used in connection with magnefluxing operations to detect and repair hair-line cracks in metals.

Thus, whilethe present invention has wide application in the body repair industry, it is not limited to that industry alone and has wide application to other industries wherever it is useful to provide for attachment by magnetic means. In addition, in many situations the magnetic field itself may be beneficially employed in addition to the forces produced by or through the at tached blocks. I

Although a specific preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described in the detailed description above, the description is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms or embodiments disclosed herein, since they are to be recognized as illustrative rather than restrictive and it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the invention is not so limited. The invention is declared to cover all changes and modifications of the specific example of the invention herein disclosed for purposes of illustration, which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is: l. A block of rectangular configuration for use in uniformly distributing the forces of a portable hydraulic jack to a metal surface in metal working and making body repairs wherein the improvement comprises a unitary nonskidding block consisting of a block of rectangular configuration of a material having a tensile strength and mechanical properties at least equivalent to those of Canadian white spruce; having butt plate means for reinforcing the strength of the said block and to provide a force-distributing surface to allow hammering of the said block to make minor adjustments of its position with respect to the said metal surface including a butt plate attached to each end of said rectangular block; and means to cling to the said metal surface and prevent the skidding of the said block under the forces of said hydraulic jack on at least the side of the said block to be placed in contact with the said metal surface, said means also serving to increase the tensile strength of said unitary block, whereby the said block may be placed in position on the said metal surface and held by its own forces in position subject to minor hammering adjustments during the placement of the said hydraulic jack to thereafter withstand, apply and uniformly distribute the forces of the said hydraulic jack to the said metal surface being worked on without slipping in the performance of metal working and body repairs.

2. The block of claim 1 in which said means to prevent skidding includes a magnetic member.

3. The block of claim 2 in which said magnetic member is a flexible permanent magnetic material.

4. The block of claim 3 in which said magnetic means cover the full length and width of at least one side of said block.

5. The block of claim 3 in which said magnetic means are strips on each side of said block.

7 3,871,620 6 6. The block of claim 1 in which said butt plates are of material attached to said block. steel.

b 9. The block of claim 1 in which suction devices are -lo9k of Claim m which said means for pre placed on one side of said block and magnetic means venting slipping are suction devices.

8. The block of claim 7 in which said suction device 5 on another Side of said blockconsists of a plurality of suction cups in a unitary sheet 

1. A block of rectangular configuration for use in uniformly distributing the forces of a portable hydraulic jack to a metal surface in metal working and making body repairs wherein the improvement comprises a unitary nonskidding block consisting of a block of rectangular configuration of a material having a tensile strength and mechanical properties at least equivalent to those of Canadian white spruce; having butt plate means for reinforcing the strength of the said block and to provide a forcedistributing surface to allow hammering of the said block to make minor adjustments of its position with respect to the said metal surface including a butt plate attached to each end of said rectangular block; and means to cling to the said metal surface and prevent the skidding of the said block under the forces of said hydraulic jack on at least the side of the said block to be placed in contact with the said metal surface, said means also serving to increase the tensile strength of said unitary block, whereby the said block may be placed in position on the said metal surface and held by its own forces in position subject to minor hammering adjustments during the placement of the said hydraulic jack to thereafter withstand, apply and uniformly distribute the forces of the said hydraulic jack to the said metal surface being worked on without slipping in the performance of metal working and body repairs.
 2. The block of claim 1 in which said means to prevent skidding includes a magnetic member.
 3. The block of claim 2 in which said magnetic member is a flexible permanent magnetic material.
 4. The block of claim 3 in which said magnetic means cover the full length and width of at least one side of said block.
 5. The block of claim 3 in which said magnetic means are strips on each side of said block.
 6. The block of claim 1 in which said butt plates are steel.
 7. The block of claim 6 in which said means for preventing slipping are suction devices.
 8. The block of claim 7 in which said suction device consists of a plurality of suction cups in a unitary sheet of material attached to said block.
 9. The block of claim 1 in which suction devices are placed on one side of said block and magnetic means on another side of said block. 